Things To Do
South Congress (a/k/a SoCo) Area
This area has some of the best shopping, exploring, drinking, and food options around. You really can't go wrong with any of the restaurants here, but the following are some great choices: Home Slice Pizza, Hoppdoddy Burger Bar, Magnolia Cafe, and Perla's Seafood & Oyster Bar. You should also plan to grab a dessert at one (or all...) of the following places: Amy's Ice Cream, Big Top Candy Shop, and Hey Cupcake Food Truck.
Statesman Bat Observation Center
If you are around this area at sunset and want to play it up like a true tourist, see if you can catch the bats swarm out from under the Congress Avenue Bridge.
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema
If you have more time to kill and want to catch a movie (most likely to see The Batman Movie if you're running behind), then you should try to snag a spot at this Austin movie theatre chain that serves up great food and booze during the movie.
6th Street
Dirty 6th (E 6th St.) lives up to its nickname and has a plethora of live music and dive bars. The following are some classic spots to hit up that have been going strong since Bree's college days: Maggie Mae's, Recess Arcade Bar, and Shakespeare's Pub. You can also venture to the less "dirty" side of 6th street (a/k/a West 6th) to check out the many bars over on that side. There is really an endless supply of fun bars in Austin and barhopping is easy and encouraged!
Rainey Street
Rainey St. will be the spot that we head to after the wedding reception to continue to celebrate, but there are so many gems to check out here so feel free to visit it more than once. Anywhere on Rainey is pretty great, but here are some of our favs: The Container Bar, Lucille, and Icenhauer's. There is a great selection of food trucks for pick-me-up meals and Bangers Sausage House and Beer Garden is also a good choice for some sustenance to go along with the beer (it also has a great brunch with huge "Manmosas").
Zilker Park
If you need some fresh air and would like to go paddleboarding, kayaking, bike riding, or just take a stroll, we suggest you hit up Zilker Park which surrounds lady bird lake. There is a running/bike riding trail that surrounds the lake and Zilker Park is a huge area to hang out where the music festival Austin City Limits is hosted each year.
Franklin Barbecue
As you can imagine, Austin is home to some of the best BBQ. As a fair warning, we will be having brisket and smoked turkey at the wedding reception catered by the iconic La Barbecue, but if you desire more meat sweats and don't mind getting up early to wait in line, then you should check out Franklin BBQ. That being said, Austin is not short on BBQ options, so you should also consider checking out Black's, Micklethwait, or really any other BBQ spots you smell passing by.